Why Diets DON'T Work: Elyse Resch on Intuitive Eating

Have you ever wondered why diets don't work? We're sitting down with sought-after nutrition therapist Elyse Resch, co-author of the acclaimed bestseller Intuitive Eating, and the nutritionist who cured Mary Alice's relationship with food to discuss the science and psychology behind the Intuitive Eating method. We'll break down why diets don’t work and how reconnecting with our inner wisdom is the key to a healthy relationship with food.

In this episode of SHE MD, Mary Alice and Elyse Resch discuss deprivation and eating disorders, including orthorexia, an unhealthy obsession with eating “healthily,” going on to challenge the emotional components that drive us to see food in the binary of good or bad. Resch highlights the concept of food habituation, suggesting that regularly eating previously forbidden foods can reduce their power over you. The conversation turns to how children are influenced by their parents’ food choices and the best way to keep kids healthy without projecting or shaming.

With over four decades of experience, Resch advocates that you can be healthy at any size and stresses that trusting your body and giving yourself permission to eat will lead to intuitive balance.

1. Reject Diet Culture — Restriction and deprivation signal danger to the brain, leading to increased hunger and a preoccupation with food. Inevitably, diet rules are broken, which can lead to binging and overeating. The binging and overeating lead to guilt and shame, and the cycle repeats itself.
2. Look through a lens of satisfaction —  Get as much satisfaction as possible from eating. You can’t get satisfaction if you think you’re eating something bad or wrong, so reject the idea that some foods are good and some foods are bad.  You can’t get satisfaction if you don’t have an appetite, or conversely, if you’re absolutely starving when you sit down to eat. Learn what it feels like to be hungry and what it feels like to be full.
3. Stay present —  Take the time to sit down and enjoy your food.
4. Move your body with joy —  Find pleasurable ways to move your body. If you hate running, don’t run! Try taking a dance class instead. Find pleasure in movement. Moving your body is important, but it should be fun!
5. Eat carbs — The only form of energy that your brain can use is glucose. If you’re not eating carbs, you start breaking down your body, not fat, but muscle tissue, slowing down your metabolism. You need carbs to concentrate and have energy. The majority of our energy input in a day has to be from carbs.